Slashdot Mirror
Weird Al Says 'Don't Download This Song'
Kazzahdrane writes "Known geek and comedy singer/songwriter Weird Al Yankovic has released the first song from his new album 'Straight Outta Lynwood' for free on his MySpace page. The track is entitled 'Don't Download This Song' and tells of the dangers of illegally downloading music from filesharing sites." His MySpace page is most excellent. "Hi. Al here. No, really, it's Al. Seriously. What, you don't believe me? Go ahead, check weirdal.com. Hit the MySpace link. See if it brings you right back to this page. Go ahead. I'll wait. See? It's really me. I should point out... this means that conversely, all those other people on MySpace who are claiming to be me or implying that they are me... are definitely NOT me. I'm sure they're very nice people... they're just not 'Weird Al' Yankovic. I assure you."
I wonder if SCO has licensed his "Dare To Be Stupid" song yet?
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Hi, I'm part of the reality squad. I feel it is my duty to inform you that you did not get p1st fr0st. Sadly, you recieved the far less prestigous p1rd th0st.
If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
Joke: ->
/|\
You: O
/ \
EVERYDAY IS CATURDAY
The RIAA begins researching ways to silence this insolent artist who seems hellbent on allowing people to access music (even if it IS his music) for free. They've been cheated out of their share. The following were just decided on by the super secret RIAA meeting on financial vengeance. Step 1. Get Angry Step 2. Talk about how you're cheated. Step 3. Sue Wierd Al and anyone who downloads the song (it says explicitly do NOT download the song,. it's in the title!) Step 4. ???? Step 5. Profit!
Weird Al and MC Lars should have a rap battle about music piracy. They'd sell millions of records. Or have millions of downloads. Or soemthing.
His MySpace page is most excellent.
Was this summary written by Keanu Reeves?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Weird Al doesn't tag his MP3s when he rips them. For shame.
Somebody please tell me that got Slashdotted...
Step 4. Settle out of court with Gradma.
Link to lossless torrent?
http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
Why, didn't you get the memo? More isn't always better.
Ok, ok. I lied. It is.
Do we seriously care about the difference audio quality between 96 and 160 kbps versions of a Weird Al Yankovic song?! I'm envisioning someone huddled over the controls on their $70,000 147.1 X-TREME SURROUND(tm) system, manually adjusting over 600 level sliders until "Don't download this song" is played in such perfect harmony angels are envious of the orgasmic bliss they experience. Hopefully no one links to a 128 kbps version of "Amish Paradise" lest our heads exploded in fury.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
Not like Weird Al? You must be Communist. Or live in Oregon. Or both.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Oh my gods! Making people buy the album by actually MAKING IT WORTH BUYING instead of at RIAA gunpoint?!
Who the hell is the label behind this?
Where the heck did you get a 148 speaker setup for only $70K? Because I paid almost $200k but I'm not out of the remorse period yet, and I could still return it if I could get a better deal.
Also, it's not all it's cracked up to be, because you'll find yourself replacing air filters like crazy to unclog all the angels that commit envy-suicide in your house when they see how much you are enjoying your sound system. I don't care how many fit on the head of a pin, it takes only a few trillion to completely block the airflow on a Filtrete.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
> Enjoy one of the last artists that is still concerned about his fans and music no matter how hilarious and campy it may be. He has the sense to realize that he's very well off compared to his fans and jokes about solid gold humvees and diamond studded pools.
Is it ironic that the song makes me want to go out and buy his new record, giving Weird Al the money I think he deserves? I do believe it is!
Wget only needed 18 tries, with resuming enabled.
Our story begins with a skim over the day's Slashdot headlines. The regulars are all present: Government X adopts OSS/ODF, Mr. Nobody gives a loose overview of security problem Y, and SCO does transparently underhanded deed Z. Yet one topic in particular grabs my attention...
Being a Weird Al fan, and well-aware of the problems he has collecting from his label, my mind registers the topic both as a must-Read-More and as another chapter to take note of in the long saga of digital music rights. With significant anticipation, I add it to my other fifteen or so open tabs and proceed to work my way through my article reading queue.
I (grudgingly) visit myspace, but something's amiss. There is no download link! Nothing in the navigation menu, the news posts, or the comments make mention of where I can obtain the song, yet visitors proceed to comment on how much they enjoyed it. Looking for an alternate link, I return to Slashdot, only to find more reactions without mention of any download difficulties. And so I begin to worry irrationally: "I'm the only one in the world who can't listen to Weird Al!" I've had usability issues with myspace before, but normally after a minute or so of misguided clicking I'm able to stumble upon something that hints at actual content. I try two other domains, weirdal.com and dontdownloadthissong.com, only to find the former hopelessly slashdotted and the latter unusable. My frustration continues to build.
I reflect that perhaps it is a browser compatability issue - I am using Konqueror after all - and try my luck with firefox. After configuring it to *not* attempt DNS queries over IPv6, that I might reach the content I so desperately seek this century, I find that myspace persists to mock me. It is as if some divine administrative force knows my IP address and has modified the web server specifically to torment me.
I search for torrent files - first through links from kind slashdotters looking to boost their karma, and when that fails, via KTorrent's integrated search plugin. Bittorrent.com? No matches. Isohunt.com? Nada. Mininova? Bytenova? Torrentspy?! My heart races as I continue to exhaust the list of built-in known search engines, until... Aha! The Pirate Bay has found one match, uploaded a mere twenty-two minutes ago.
But to use a torrent from the most infamous peer-to-peer site in existence, what would that make me? Is the torrent legal? Just because Weird Al chooses to distribute it on his webpage doesn't mean he releases that right to others. I'm sure under these circumstances he couldn't possibly mind, but not having heard of the song's existence prior to reading Slashdot, I simply do not know the record label's stance on the matter, or whether they even have partial rights over this particular mp3. But it does not matter - I must have the song!
The irony - that I am bittorrenting a free-as-in-beer song that possesses a satirical name mocking filesharing litigation, and am potentially committing a copyright violation in the process - is not lost on me. My idealistic side taunts the RIAA, "I just DARE you to try to sue me over this, my only infringement!" My pessimistically pragmatic side notes that the unusual circumstances would make no difference, as I would be forced to settle, and never see my day in court anyway.
I emerge from my digression to the present.
No peers or seeders. For the moment, the music industry and other enemies of Peer-to-Peer breathe a sigh of relief.
Then it occurs to me that the song might be unreachable to those who have not installed the dreaded Flash Plugin. But why? A slashdot commenter mentions that the song is indeed in the mp3 format, so it is not as if my lack of such a player could possibly prevent me from obtaining this song. For what kind of sick madman would consign a publically-downloadable mp3 to the clutches of a proprietary system and that system alone?
As a rule, I have abstained from using Flash on my desktop's Gentoo installation. This self-denial is due to a combination of fac
Evidently, the key to understanding recursion is to begin by understanding recursion. The rest is easy.
Perhaps we could call them Independent... or 'Indie' for short.
There is some fine irony in that statement.
Or possibly just want to not hear nails on a chalkboard mixed in with your song...
I bought it with that 2000" TV. It was a double-package. ;)
--TheOrangeSquid Is it any wonder things seem so awry? We swim in a sea of confusion and don't have to think to survive
Don't worry, won't happen...Wierd Al uses equal temperament. ^^
Well said, Mr. Lysergic Acid, or is it Smack Hero?
I know everyone has their drug of choice, but don't you think you're going a little hard on the coke heads?
I'll second that: I was listening to the MySpace version on my 100 dollar Logitech 5.1 speakers, and the popping in the MP3 is either due to the low bitrate, or Al added one more reason he is a genius: making "Don't Download This Song" sound like it was downloaded on Napster back in the day!
Correction: I just listened to the higher bitrate version, and the pops are still there. Al is truly a genius.
Through all my childhood, I loved tormenting my little sister by blasting Weird Al at her... now this song comes out on her birthday. I think it's a sign! I'm gonna hafta send her a Weird Al E-Card :-)
My bicyles
Can you imagine the irony, if this was released as a single and it went to Number 1 ...then again, everyone would download it anyway, so it would never get anywhere. But, just for a moment imagine that...
"If it's lost, it'll turn up. Things always do" "I love it when a plan comes together"
The question shouldn't be whether or not it really is Al. The question should be whether or not it's an honest-to-Allah MySpace site.
I mean, if it really is a MySpace site, then how come my eyes aren't bleeding?
Frank? Is that you?
Telcos have alot of dark fibre in the States. Most people assume that's optical fibre...but it's actually moral fibre.
Weird Al, How could you? An MP3 encoded at 96 kbs at 22.05 kHz...
Today a piece of my inner audiophile died.
Nothing sucks like a Vax, nothing blows like a PowerMac G4
I want Wierd Al's vocal chords in a tupperware container!
It's been a long time.
Not at all. "Doesn't matter if you're a grandma or a seven year old girl / they treat you like the evil hardbitten criminal scum you are" should make it absolutely clear to everyone that this is indeed an honest defense of RIAA.
"Don't take away money from artists just like me / how else can I afford another solid gold Humvee / and diamond-studded swimming pools, they don't grow on trees"
You are a human being, not a corporation. You have no rights, besides those your corporate overlords and their political servants are graciously granting you out of the goodness of their hearts.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
I would pay good money to hear WIlliam Shatner cover Weird Al songs.
$8.95/mo web hosting
...I would pay good money to hear Weird Al parody Willian Shatner covering Weird Al songs... ;-p
...quicker, easier, more seductive the darkside is...but more powerful, it is not.